Kerala: Panic over contracting mucormycosis in Ernakulam

KOCHI: Panic over contracting mucormycosis (also known as black fungus) grips patients who recovered from Covid-19 in Ernakulam, forcing them to approach hospitals even for redness of eyes due to allergic reaction.
Ernakulam General Hospital (EGH), where a special team has been constituted by the district health authorities to provide treatment for the infection, has been witnessing at least five patients visiting the outpatient (OP) section daily complaining of headache and redness in eyes, which they fear are symptoms of mucormycosis.However, it has been found that the rush to the hospital is due to panic.
On detailed examination, most of them are found not even diabetic.
“Panic situations are there in the society as they see news on black fungus. So far, we have not found any issues associated with black fungus in patients recovered from Covid who seek treatment here. Half of them are not even diabetic patients either. Instead of getting panicked, people should be vigilant as it contracts high risk people mostly, who are diabetic with uncontrollable sugar level, those taking immune suppressing medicine in cases of organ transplantation and those taking medicines for cancer treatment,” said a doctor who is part of the expert team in EGH. “The infection was present even before Covid. Now, it has increased three or four times compared to the pre-Covid period as steroids are used in Covid treatment. Contracting Covid does not mean they are all susceptible to mucormycosis. Steroid needs to be administered if a patient contracts pneumonia, otherwise it will lead to permanent damage of lungs. Early diagnosis is an important factor to prevent the spread of the infection to other parts of the body,” added the doctor.
The panic even causes sleep disturbance in some cases and the mental health team in Ernakulam attended a case recently.
“We got a call from a parent of a 13-year-old boy. The parent told us that the boy was suffering from sleep disturbance after watching news on black fungus on channels. The boy was in fear of contracting mucormycosis as his family members had contracted Covid and recovered a month ago. We have given the boy reassurance,” said district coordinator of mental health programme Soumya Raj.
Meanwhile, a 45-year-old Mookkannor native woman, who was under treatment for mucormycosis at a private hospital in Angamaly, was discharged on Friday .